It was during a visit to the RHS Tatton Park flower show in July 2021 during a heatwave when I realised that I was missing an area in my garden that I could sit in the shade during the afternoon on those hot days which we are experiencing more frequently. The best place seemed to be an area where a holly tree was current growing – this area is open on three sides with a tall conifer hedge on the fourth side which would provide some shade. The holly tree itself hadn’t look healthy for a number of years and it was on my to-do list to talk to a tree surgeon about it anyway. Following discussions I decided that it would be best to remove the holly tree and this would open up a whole new area for planting. It was then that my imagination began to run wild.
What had started off as a decision to include a shaded seating area had turned into a project to redesign a section of my garden.
Inspiration
During a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show in the Autumn of 2021 I took the opportunity to investigate various seating structure options. Initially I was thinking about a gazebo, but at the show there were some summerhouses which had windows that could open on most, and in one case, all sides which would maximise any cooling effects of a breeze. The summerhouses were more expensive that a gazebo, but would provide a greater range of conditions where I could make use of the structure. It was disappointing that none of the structures at the show had methods for capturing rainwater built in to them.
Preparation
The removal of the holly tree took place on a cold winter’s day by Adam Hayles and the gang from Adam’s Tree Surgery Ltd.
The Plan
Before the holly tree was removed I had sketched out various possible plans, but it was difficult to measure as two of the sides are curved, so it wasn’t until the tree had gone that I could start laying out the ideas on the ground itself to get a real idea. The area around the holly tree that I was redesigning had been part of the wildflower area which borders the lawn in the water garden. Given this, the idea of planting at ground level didn’t make sense as no doubt the wildflowers would keep appearing, so I explored the possibility of raised beds. I already had raised beds in the vegetable plot so it wouldn’t look completely out of place but they would give me the different feel to this area from the cottage garden borders. An added benefit of having raised beds would allow me to use plants that would otherwise be lost in the borders. Capturing and storing rainwater in the area would be crucial to the design if I went for raised beds.
The next question was what shape to go for, both in terms of the seating structure as well as the raised beds. The two options I considered were a circular design, which would tie in with the circular patio by the vegetable plot, or an octagonal design, which would tie in with the patio are by the house.
In the end I decided to go for a gazebo, a decision purely made on the availability of the structure in the timescales I was looking at, and octagonal shapes. The three double octagonal beds form an outline of a celtic cross, a single octagonal bed forms the centrepiece which is surrounded by three triple octagonal beds. By the gazebo there are four square planters, two are at the entrance to the gazebo and will be joined by an archway, and the other two on either sides of the gazebo.
The Build
The raised beds from Woodblocx and the Rowlinson Buckingham gazebo were delivered on 28 March. Work commenced on 4 April and took 3 guys, Kev and the boys from Monaghan Design & Build Ltd, 11 days to complete. This included erecting the gazebo, putting on a slate roof to make it waterproof, installation of guttering and water butts, building the raised beds and filling with soil, and finishing off the area with 10 tonnes of bark. My home-made compost formed the base for the raised beds and 10 tonnes of soil finished them off. In the autumn I will be mulching the beds using strulch.
Planting Plans
The three triple octagonal beds have a colour theme – cool tones of blue and yellow, one with a focus on white with some dark coloured plants for contrast and one with vibrant tones. All three include a tree with interesting bark together with a variety of scented plants. There are a number of plants where I have the same species in each bed with different varieties to match the specific theme. For example I have hemerocallis Joan Senior in the cool tones bed, hemerocallis Black Prince in the vibrant tones bed, and hemerocallis Blizzard Boy in the white bed.
The feature plant of the central bed is a liquidamber, underplanted with helleborus, fuchsias and penstemon.
The front double beds will both have hakonechloa macra Aureola, ophiopogon planiscapus Nigrescens and various types of saxifraga. The feature plants will be a beech tree, one which I have grown from a cutting from my beech hedge, which I will train as a rectangular column, and forsythia mini gold. There is a yellow theme for the left double beds with gleditsia triacanthos Sunburst will providing height. The double beds on the right, between the gazebo and the paulownia tomentosa, will contain three roses – dwarf fairy red, flower carpet pink and little sunset.
There will be four square planters around the gazebo, two by the entrance joined by an archway which will planted with wisteria, and the other two planters containing clematis.
